Have I mentioned I know how to read?

It's National Book Month! It's also Mystery Series Week! I do love me a good mystery - a good resource is Stop! You're Killing Me! and this new link to Overbooked.

I've been keeping track of the books I read in a year (I'm a little geeky that way) and I find myself selecting mysteries and women's fiction. I prefer the "women's fiction" title much better than romance even though the authors are found in that section of the bookstore. I've found that I don't pick up just any book anymore in that genre - I've gotten pickier, found it harder to relate to the some of the situations and, well, just grown out of some of it.

So I find some authors I read over and over (Nora Roberts *immediately* comes to mind) and new ones that get me excited like Kathy Reichs. You know, I came across her books in Costco a few years ago and passed on it then. I guess I'm ready for her now. And it doesn't hurt that I love to watch Bones which is based on her and her character.

I keep a list of authors I want to read (note to self - tranfer list to PDA), have a stack of books by the bed that are next to read (it's at about 8-10 books right now), love to visit the library, want to get Nancy Pearl's books (ok I want to *be* Nancy Pearl when I grow up) and continually think I don't have enough bookshelves. I really don't, you know. I have books currently in stacks on the floor in our bedroom.

When I was trying to figure out a name for this blog, I wanted to incorporate my two loves - books and knitting. The knitting is recent (less than 5 years) but no less powerful in the impact to my well-being. Both allow me to escape from stress and pressures, both provide pleasure in the doing and the giving, both are spread in nearly every room of the house.

So what to name the blog? Well, after really thinking it over and changing the name from the original Just One More, to the short-lived Yarn and Books = Happiness, Yarn Pig made more sense and appealed to me.

Hmmmm. Long story short? It's National Book Month! Make an author happy - Read a book!

The Color of Summer

 
It's a drab day here in Vancouver so I decided to share a quick photo from the summer of Katherine in the pool. I love this photo. Something about the bright colors, the clarity of the photo, the unexpected good fortune of a good photo (I'm not a great photographer).

It makes me smile.

small knitting update

 

Here's a quick look at the scarf I'm knitting for a friend. Frog Tree Alpaca. I'm almost through 2 skeins and have a 3rd ready to go. Paws to Remember pattern, modified to be not as wide as the pattern calls for and I'm wondering if I'll need that 3rd skein, but why not make it a little long?

I'd hoped to have camera shots from today's Portland Marathon that Chris the Sis ran today, but they haven't come through yet. And trying to sort through the pictures online is a pain! 

 

While I'm at small knitting updates, here's the pirate hat made for Erin's birthday. I used black and grey Wool-Ease and cut the repeat done by one since it was going to be bigger than the yarn used.

And that's Rob modeling the hat - Erin was unavailable for her photo shoot.